


oh, my dreams (never quite as it seems)

by thingswhat



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Dreams, Dreamsharing, Falling In Love, Fluff, In a way, M/M, Minor Angst, Past Relationship(s), Red String of Fate, Soulmates, past Kaburagi T. Kotetsu/Kaburagi Tomoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29830683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingswhat/pseuds/thingswhat
Summary: Kotetsu’s been having these dreams for most of his life. But they don’t mean anything, right? They’re just some strange coincidence, right?There’s no such thing as soulmates, right?
Relationships: Barnaby "Bunny" Brooks Jr./Kaburagi T. Kotetsu
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	oh, my dreams (never quite as it seems)

_I know I felt like this before  
But now I'm feeling it even more  
Because it came from you_

The first time it happened, Kotetsu was young. He and Tomoe had just gotten engaged and were discussing moving to Stern Bild City so he could try to catch the attention of a sponsor and get hired as a hero. Normally not very prone to dreaming, especially with as exhausted as they were after days packed with wedding planning and packing for the move, plus his training and trying to find work, one night he slipped into a strangely clear and coherent dream.

He was being stared down by a scowling blond man who looked just a bit older than him, with a stern face and cold green eyes behind his glasses, wearing a strange mecha-looking suit. The man eventually sighed and gave a frustrated huff. “I thought you were looking for me.”

“Buddy, I have no idea who you even are,” Kotetsu sassed, then abruptly woke up. Blinking up at the ceiling, he thought, what the hell?

Kotetsu forgot the dream soon after, and would have forever if not for it happening again. Life was amazing, everything was going just great! Except Kotetsu was so busy his head spun and it felt like he couldn’t manage to remember everything with all that was going on. He was a hero! And it was everything he hoped for! Mostly! When his sponsors weren’t yelling at him about damages and Ben wasn’t aggravated because he kept doing what he wanted and not what the higher ups at Hero TV wanted! And Tomoe was pregnant! He was going to be a dad to a little girl!

Then one night he dreamt of that frowning man again, who looked at him and asked, “You said you were looking for me?”

Kotetsu stared and stammered, “I, shit, did I forget something? Did I have an appointment with you? Was it an interview? Did Tomoe need me to get something from you for the nursery?” He flailed and patted at his pockets. “To do list, to do list, oh man, did I lose it?”

The blond man rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his long, swoopy-curled hair with a sigh that suddenly sounded familiar. “Never mind.”

And then Kotetsu woke up, Tomoe laying on his now numb and asleep right arm, and he murmured, “Huh. Stress is really getting to me.”

*

The next time the dream happened, Tomoe was gone. His daughter was in a different city, living with his mother. And Kotetsu was alone. Alone in his apartment, alone in his bed, alone in a sprawling, bustling city where no one really gave a crap about him.

Kotetsu thought he was asleep, but his eyes were open and he was staring up at the shadowed ceiling, and that guy was there in his room, just standing there looking at him. Except this time he was in normal clothes, pants and boots and a red leather jacket. He was frowning like the other times, but different somehow, like he wasn’t so much angry as just…serious, somber, somehow. Concerned, maybe? A little bit.

“Were you…looking for me?” the man asked quietly.

“No.” Kotetsu paused, blinked slowly as he thought for a long moment. “I don’t think I’m looking for anyone or anything anymore.” The only person he wanted to look for was far, far beyond his reach. “But. I. I dunno, I guess…I could use a bit of company for a little bit? If that’s okay.”

The blond man nodded, and Kotetsu felt his eyes flutter, then close, suddenly so very heavy. The last thing he felt before sinking into sleep was the sensation of someone brushing his hair back from his forehead and running a finger every so gently beneath his damp eyes.

*

Five years later, Kotetsu met Barnaby Brooks Jr.

Back at home after that bizzarre day, remembering those three old dreams and thinking about getting caught like a damsel in distress earlier as he fell, being called old man, *and* being shown up on live TV by the aggravating new guy (that somehow he knew??), he rubbed at his face with his hands roughly.

“What,” Kotetsu said to the empty room, “the fuck?”

*

Not long after that, his mother told a tale during one of their phone calls of people who sometimes dreamed of soulmates. Usually, she lectured, the dreams would happen over and over, only ceasing when an emotional connection was formed—like a close friendship or even a romantic relationship. Those whose hearts formed a special bond of love would even begin to see a red string connecting each other.

Kotetsu had snorted and waved a hand to make her stop. Nah, no way, no how was he believing in that sort of cheesy crap. And anyway, he’d already found his soulmate, and lost her, and no young upstart was ever going to be anything like Tomoe had been for him.

*

Well. Okay. Maybe Bunny would end up a friend after all. A good friend. A bona fide partner even. And Kotetsu would do anything for him.

But soulmate? Bunny would surely never let him *that* close. And certainly it would never be romantic love. Tomoe had been it for him. Kotetsu reminded himself of that, swore it to himself, more and more often, each restless night when it was just him in the quiet and dark, or during the day when he caught sight of Bunny and felt a strange pang in his chest, sharp behind his sternum. Tomoe had been *it*, he thought again, feeling the solidness of his wedding ring digging into his finger as he clenched his fist.

And anyway, the dreams had stopped, Kotetsu thought to himself. It’d been years. So whatever connection had already happened, right?

Plus soulmates weren’t real so the dreams stopping was just a random thing that didn’t mean anything anyway. Right?

*

Then the dream happened again. After…after he’d hurt Bunny, by not telling him about losing his powers or wanting to retire, by not trusting him. By *slapping* him. When Kotetsu fell asleep while waiting for Samantha Taylor to return to her home, he saw Bunny walking away from him into an endless expanse of darkness. “Bunny,” he shouted, running to chase after him, reaching and reaching for him, hand outstretched to try to grab him, but he could never manage to get close enough. “Bunny! I’m sorry! I’m looking for you, please, I’m looking for you! Where are you?”

He woke on an unfamiliar couch, mumbling “Where are you?” out loud as he slipped from dream to reality. But then everything blew up in his face, almost literally, and Kotetsu was too busy running for his life and trying to figure out what bizzarro world he was in where no one remembered him to wonder or worry why the dream had returned.

Or why it had changed.

*

Everything was fine. Everything was good. Great, even! Kotetsu retired and moved back home, where ha could be around his daughter and his family, and could be there for Kaede as she learned more and more about her new NEXT powers. He could be there to help his brother at his store when needed, and could help his mother with her garden and with fixing up the house. He was useful!

He was…just sitting around the house, to be honest. A lot. He was so uncool and boring, according to Kaede. He was…

He was missing Bunny. And he was having the dreams again.

A lot.

The dreams were always the same now. Similar to the one he’d had that night at Samantha Taylor’s home, Bunny would be walking away from Kotetsu, never stopping or turning back. Kotetsu would reach out for him but never catch him—though he didn’t shout at Bunny with the same deperation as he had in that earlier dream. Now, he just called out for Bunny, saying “I’m looking for you!” like he was calling to Kaede when she got too far ahead in a crowd and he couldn’t see her. Or sometimes in a tone of voice like Kotetsu had spotted an old school friend across the street, friendly and delighted. Or sometimes yelling to Bunny while sounding oddly lonely and wistful.

And sometimes he’d call out for Bunny flirtatiously, with a lilt to his voice like he used to do when he was being playful and silly with Tomoe.

Huh. Interesting.

Those times, when he woke from the dream, Kotetsu would think Oh. Is that how it is now? Is it? Maybe?

But not like he would ever try to find Bunny and see if the new dreams meant anything. Bunny was getting to live his own life now, finally. And he deserved that—and Kotetsu would do anything to make sure it stayed that way. He could put up with a few dreams if it meant that somewhere out there, Bunny was truly enjoying his life and was happy.

Though the sitting around the house thing, the being an uncool dad thing, the kind of sort of maybe missing being a hero thing? Those, he could do something about. There surely was a way Kotetsu could try again. Make the best of his situation. Kotetsu had Ideas!

*

Being a Second League hero wasn’t so bad. Sure, sometimes he messed up or looked foolish, sometimes the network or fans made fun of him, but that wasn’t all that different than First League had been. And Kotetsu was there on his own terms, making the best of it, and he wasn’t ever going to give up. Not anymore. Wild Tiger was never going to be a quitter, ever again.

Not even when he got caught like a princess needing rescuing yet *again*. Not even when he was going to get written up for damages to some dumb car (and this time it wasn’t even his fault!)

Because Bunny was back, and the way he’d said, “Because I’m your partner” had left Kotetsu feeling like he could soar through the air like Sky High—even as he and Bunny decended into bickering.

Because Bunny was *back*. Bunny was back *for him*.

*

It was like a breath of fresh air to spend time with Bunny again, like something loosened and relaxed in Kotatsu that he hadn’t realized had been tense. Staring out at the night sky and the patchwork quilt of city lights below while on the balcony of Bunny’s new penthouse apartment, Kotetsu marvelled at how light he felt, how hopeful and free. They’d reuinited, and he felt like he was at the start of some big adventure, excitement making him eager to venture forth.

From inside, he heard Bunny calling his name. “I’m out here,” Kotetsu hollered back over his shoulder in response.

Bunny pushed aside the curtains, slipping out through the sliding door. “There you are. I was looking for you.”

Something suddenly made Kotetsu pause and blink, twisting sharply to look at Bunny. Something about the soft curve of Bunny’s smile, the glint of the starlight reflected in his eyes, even through his glasses. The moment felt like something out of a dream. His heart skipped a beat.

“Were you? Looking for me?” he murmured. The moment felt almost fragile, like he was cradling something crystalline in his hands.

Bunny’s eyes widened and he stared at Kotetsu almost as if seeing him for the first time. A long silence fell, and Kotetsu realized he was holding his breath. Then, tentatively, Bunny responded, “yes. Always. I—,” he looked away, biting his lip, then his gaze snapped sharply back to Kotetsu’s as if pulled by a magnet. “Kotetsu,” he said firmly, and a shivering spark shot up Kotetsu’s spine at the use of his actual name, “were you looking for me, too?”

“Oh, Bunny,” Kotetsu reached out carefully to grasp Bunny’s arm, then trailed his fingers down until he could clasp his hand, interlacing their fingers, his skin tingling when the younger man allowed it. The physical touch, the feeling of smooth, warm skin and a firm grip, made everything seem to solidify and suddenly feel real again. For a brief second, he thought he caught a glimpse of something shimmering red and threadlike in the dim light, trailing from his hand and leading to Bunny’s. “I’ve been looking for you for so, so long, you don’t even know.”

Then Bunny smiled, wider and brighter than Kotetsu had ever seen before, his eyes crinkling, and Kotetsu felt the same firework burst of joy in his heart that was there on Bunny’s face, like every dream either of them had ever had, in an instant all at once came true.

_Then I open up and see_   
_The person falling here is me_   
_A different way to be_

**Author's Note:**

> title and quoted lyrics from the Cranberries' song, Dreams. split lyrics are from one verse, the first half of the verse feels very Kotetsu, the second half feels very Barnaby. which felt like a neat way to bookend this. whole song suits them, tbh. 
> 
> For the For the March Flash Fiction day two prompt: “Looking for me?” Also posted to my tumblr at thingswhatareawesome.


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